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By Charles M. Phipps on November 18th, 2021 
Time is running out for Governor Stitt to make his decision whether or not to commute the death sentence of Julius Jones. The Pardon & Parole Board has voted to recommend that Stitt commute Jones’s sentence and spare him from getting the needle.
Jones was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell during a carjacking. Jones shot Paul Howell in the head in front of his sister and his daughters in order to steal his vehicle. After exhausting all his appeals, his execution is set for tomorrow, November 18th, at 4:00 PM.
Celebrities, media people, and politicians alike have voiced their support for Julius Jones getting clemency, claiming either outright innocence or that the conviction is dubious enough to cast doubt upon his guilt. I saw a petition on change.org supporting Jones that was signed by several million people, urging Governor Stitt to spare Jones from getting the needle tomorrow afternoon. Probably more than 99% of […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on October 25th, 2018 
Oklahomans will be voting on five state questions in a couple of weeks. Here are the questions and my take on each.
State Question 793 – Right of Optometrists and Opticians to Practice in Retail Establishments Initiative
This measure adds a new Section 3 to Article 20 of the Oklahoma Constitution. Under the new Section, no law shall infringe on optometrists’ or opticians’ ability to practice within a retail mercantile establishment, discriminate against optometrists or opticians based on the location of their practice, or require external entrances for optometric offices within retail mercantile establishments. No law shall infringe on retail mercantile establishments’ ability to sell prescription optical goods and services. The Section allows the Legislature to restrict optometrists from performing surgeries within retail mercantile establishments, limit the number of locations at which an optometrist may practice, maintain optometric licensing requirements, require optometric offices to be in a separate room of a retail mercantile establishment, and impose health and safety standards. […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on June 13th, 2018 
In just two weeks, Oklahoma voters will go to the polls for the primary elections and, in a rare instance, a State Question. This will be the first time since 2005 that a date other than a general election has been set for an initiative. State Question 788, if passed, would legalize marijuana in Oklahoma for medical purposes.
The ballot title is as follows:
This measure amends the Oklahoma State Statutes. A yes vote legalizes the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma for medicinal purposes. A license is required for use and possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes and must be approved by an Oklahoma Board Certified Physician.
The State Department of Health will issue medical marijuana licenses if the application is eighteen years of older an Oklahoma resident. A special exception will be granted to an applicant under the age of eighteen, however these applications must be signed by two physicians and a parent or legal […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on November 23rd, 2017 
After the news earlier this week about the long-overdue death of Charles Manson, there were, of course, many responses on the Internet, ranging from celebration to claims that Manson and President Trump had similarities. Countless comments referenced Manson’s fiery destination and his eternity in the depths of hell, with more than one person saying even hell was too good for Manson. What was really too good for Manson was almost forty-six years of life after the jury at his murder trial gave him a death sentence. When the California Supreme Court banned capital punishment in the state, Manson’s sentence was automatically modified to life and, incredibly, he would be eligible for parole. Fortunately, he never had a chance at being granted parole as his crimes were so notorious that he was never going to see freedom. Nor have his three co-defendants, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Atkins was even denied ‘compassionate release’ after developing terminal brain cancer […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on November 16th, 2017 
After the recent mass shootings in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and California, the media, Democrats and the leftist cabal in Hollywood went on their usual rants of demanding something be done. the knee-jerk responses to any shooting came as expected, with all the usual suspects putting out their same-old press releases, tweets, and editorials. All they need do is change the date on them.
It’s hard to take them seriously when gun-grabbers continually demand that “something be done” but never say what the ‘something’ is. They never get specific because they don’t have a clue what to do. It’s always interesting to me that lefties continually blame the availability of guns for mass shootings, but never want to discuss the decay of society that has fostered an environment friendly to those bent on mass murder. They never want to discuss the decay because their leftist ideals and programs are responsible for it.
So they blame the guns and demand “something […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on January 24th, 2017 
As part of his immigration plan, President Trump pledged during his campaign to block federal funding to sanctuary cities within the first one hundred days of his administration. “Block funding for sanctuary cities. We block the funding. No more funding. Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars,” Trump said last August. States could lose funding as well as counties and cities. Some could face huge penalties for noncompliance. New York City stands to lose $1.8 billion in federal dollars.
I sincerely hope he keeps this pledge.
Sanctuary cities, if you don’t know, have laws or unwritten policies in place to limit how much local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials when dealing with illegal immigrants. Illegals who have been arrested for crimes in sanctuary cities are typically allowed to serve their city jail time and are then released instead of being turned over to the feds for deportation. Some cities will turn over […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on November 6th, 2016 
On Thursday this week, the White House issued a press release saying that President Obama granted commutation to 72 federal inmates, a follow-up to the 98 commutations he granted last week. For his presidency, this is a total of 955 individuals, including 324 life sentences.
Part of the press release takes a shot at mandatory minimum sentences and calls for Congress to enact “broader reforms needed to ensure our federal sentencing system operates more fairly and effectively in the service of public safety.”
Hogwash.
Obama has now commuted the sentence for more federal prisoners than all other presidents since World War II combined. Reportedly, all of the prisoners were convicted of nonviolent drug offenses but some also were convicted for nonviolent weapons offenses.
White House counsel Neil Eggleston said in the press release, “The President is committed to reinvigorating the clemency authority, demonstrating that our nation is a nation of second chances, where mistakes from the past will not deprive […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on September 21st, 2016 
Mention the word ‘lynch’ and you’ll invoke thoughts of historical events of days gone by, blacks being hung from trees by racist mobs, the Ku Klux Klan, or some western movie you saw with the local sheriff standing in front of the jail with a shotgun, holding off the murderous mob of citizens who are intent on stringing up a prisoner. Lynching has not been confined to the United States, but i is certainly been more prevalent in our country than in others. Lynching as most people think of it has all but disappeared, but it has been replaced with a new form of lynching that can be done with a keyboard.
Over the past couple of days, I have seen numerous articles, columns, posts, editorials, tweets, etc about the shooting of Terance Crutcher by a Tulsa police officer. If you’re not familiar with the shooting, this article by ABC News is fairly detailed and an unbiased description of the […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on May 19th, 2016 
For more than a year I have been reading about civil asset forfeiture and the need for reform. Stories of law enforcement seizing assets, usually cash, from innocent people on the side of the road have become rampant as the media, many politicians, watchdog groups and the public make the case for reform. I have written about civil asset forfeiture before, here and here, and the time has come for me to write about it again.
As a quick refresher for those unfamiliar with civil asset forfeiture, here’s how it works. Civil asset forfeiture laws allow law enforcement to take your property without ever charging you with a crime by claiming the property seized is connected to criminal activity. The most typical application of the law is to seize cash from someone during a traffic stop. An officer who has pulled you over for a suspected traffic violation has the authority to make the decision all on his own that […] → Keep reading
By Charles M. Phipps on April 5th, 2016 
Technology has always been ahead of the law, or so the adage goes. Smartphones, internet-enabled vehicles & wristwatches, health monitors, home video cameras, and other devices have all been part of the discussion around privacy and technology. It’s nearly impossible to write privacy laws to cover devices and capabilities that have yet to be invented, so often times there is new technology on the market while the law tries to catch up. Some believe that to be the case with drones. I do not concur.
The use of drones has been increasing exponentially over the last few years with drones being available for private use, businesses, news reporting, and law enforcement, to name a few. Drones are so prevalent that anyone can purchase one on Amazon for fifty bucks, and that includes the attachable 2MP HD Wifi camera. At that price, having a personal drone may become as common as having a cell phone.
But not everyone is fond of […] → Keep reading
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